Albania - Demographics

Demographics

The Albanian population is relatively young by European standards, with a median age of 28.9 years. After 1990 the Albanian population has faced new phenomena like migration, which greatly affected the distribution by districts and prefectures. Between 1991 and 2004, roughly 900,000 people have migrated out of Albania, about 600,000 of them settling in Greece. Districts in the North have seen a decreasing population, while Tirana and Durrës districts have increased their population, due to internal immigration.

As of the last census data from 2001, Albania's population was 3,069,275. Officially, the Albanian Institute of Statistics estimated it at 3,152,600 on 1 January 2007, at 3,170,048 on 1 January 2008 and at 3,195,000 on 1 January 2010. Alternative sources (CIA) estimate the population in July 2011 at 2,994,667. Albania is a largely ethnically homogeneous country with only a few minorities. The majority of the population is ethnically Albanian. The exact amount of ethnic minorities is not known, as the last census that contained ethnographic data was conducted in 1989. According to the latest news, the next census containing ethnographic data will begin in April 2011 with EU counsels assisting in certain fields. The pilot census is already being conducted, while the official one was scheduled to being on 2 April 2011. In February 2011 the government announced that the census would be postponed to prepare for municipal elections in May, while it has come under pressure from various groups and politicians to scrap the questions on ethnicity and religion. The census was rescheduled to take place in October 2011, and was to include questions on ethnicity. However, minority groups have sharply criticized Article 20 of the Census law, according to which a $1,000 fine will be imposed on anyone who will declare an ethnicity other than what was written down on his or her birth certificate. This is believed to be an attempt to intimidate minorities into declaring Albanian ethnicity, as the Albanian government has furthermore additionally stated that it will jail anyone who does not participate in the census or refuse to declare his or her ethnicity.

Minorities include Greeks, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Gorani, Vlachs, Montenegrins, Serbs, Balkan Egyptians, Roma, Bosniaks and Jews. "It is difficult to know how many Greeks there are in Albania. The Greek government, it is typically claimed, says that there are around 300,000 ethnic Greeks in Albania, but most western estimates are around 200,000 mark (although EEN puts the number at a probable 100,0000...) The Albanian government puts the number at only 60,000." The CIA World Factbook estimates the Greek minority at 3% of the total population and the US State Department uses 1.17% for Greeks and 0.23% for other minorities.